Defi niowanie rynku właściwego w sektorze farmaceutycznym w sprawach antymonopolowych – rola Obwieszczenia KE w sprawie defi nicji rynku właściwego do celów wspólnotowego prawa konkurencji
The relevant market is one of the key concepts of competition law; its determination is a fundamental element of any antitrust procedure, both at the EU and national level, and a tool allowing entrepreneurs to assess their market position for the purpose of identifying potential risks related to implemented operational activities. One of the instruments used to ensure consistency in the definition of the relevant market in the practice of antitrust authorities is the European Commission Notice on the definition of relevant market for the purpose of Community competition law. The aim of this article is to assess its adequacy in the context of the application of antitrust law to entrepreneurs operating in the pharmaceutical sector. The paper includes a discussion of the legal nature and meaning of the above mentioned notice, a concise discussion of its content in terms of guidelines for determining the relevant market in product and geographic terms. On the basis of the characteristics of the pharmaceutical sector – its participant and product structure, as well as the main factors shaping competition on pharmaceutical markets – the authors analyze: whether the guidelines included in the Commission Notice remain adequate and up-to-date in this respect; on which criteria, for the purposes of their own internal analysis, should entrepreneurs operating in the pharmaceutical sector rely; and what are the possible desirable changes to the discussed soft law in order to adapt it to specific market realities.
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